Shuffle off to Buffalo

Yay yay yay!
Today my posse and I (i.e. the secret society my sister and I call the PCD) are going to Buffalo.
Why?
Because we all deserve a break. And what better break can anyone think of than a day spent shopping at the outlet mall, dinner at Olive Garden and a night at a hotel - with no kids!!!!
I am giddy with excitement.
Of course we are getting Starbucks for the trip down. Yay! I'm going for a full fat grande latte. That will cost more than dinner at Olive Garden, I'm sure!!!
We have been talking about this for awhile, but finally we are going.
The plan is not to spend a lot of money. There are limits at the border. But, it's more about the fun of the experience. We've all packed magazines, books and are buying wine.
And we are hoping to sleep in. No 5 am wake up calls or snoring husbands (sorry Mike!) Just some sleep and rest and of course the shopping.
And, just for a little historical note that I am soooo proud of. Our family roots go back to Buffalo. My grandmother grew up there, and her father (or maybe grandfather) laid the founding stone of Buffalo City Hall. So, there is kind of a historical purpose for this trip.
Okay, not so much.
But, many of my friends think my pride of Buffalo is kind of amusing. I guess it is :)
And, completely off topic, but.
This week I was soooo off my diet. It was Halloween and I let loose. I ate a ton of candy. Yesterday Mike and I had jack Astors for lunch and then we had a pasta dish for dinner.
And, then today I weighed myself since it's Weight Watchers weigh-in day for me. Guess what?!?!? I was down half a pound. Is that weird or WHAT???
Am I justified in assuming that chocolate burns fat? Maybe it is relative to the speed in which I am eating the chocolate. I think that must be it.

The Great Daycare Decision - Again!

Yet again we are making a daycare decision.
Since we are moving, we obviously need to move Matt to a different daycare. Initially we had planned to put him in his old daycare in Oakville. But, it's been kind of weird. The lady who runs that daycare doesn't return my calls that often. And, I got worried that there would be no spot for him.
So, I started looking around at other daycares in the area. As much as I loved the old daycare, the location is a little inconvenient, and in all honesty it's been about 8 months since he was there and so he won't remember anyone.
I got thinking that perhaps I should find a daycare that will be a feeder daycare to the school he will attend when he is in junior kindergarten.
So I started looking. And, shockingly I found a spot at a YMCA daycare. I've done enough research to know that this is a somewhat coveted spot, and it only opened up because a mom is going on mat leave. So ....
Today we went to check it out.
I have to admit, I really really like it.
I like the philosophy of play and learning. I like all the little extras like the fact that they have daily log books and that the daycare keeps scrapbooks of their work. I liked the daycare supervisor. I liked the other teachers. They were relaxed. And I liked the other kids. They said hi when we went in, and they were having fun. I also love that we can walk to the daycare from our house. Oh - and the price is awesome too!
So we're going for it. We are sending in our registration fee and we're going to enroll him at that daycare.
Maybe it's weird. But I feel like things are falling together. I said to Mike that sometimes I feel like things work out for a reason and this is just the case.
So, we'll see how it goes.
Since the other daycare hasn't called me back yet, I'm not going to say anything to them. There's definitely a spot there, so I'm going to leave it, and see what happens. Just in case this isn't as perfect as it seems.
Ahhhh ... decisions decisions.

Mr. Jay ...

So for those of you who don't know (where have you been?) I really enjoy the show America's Next Top Model.
I was pretty excited that there was a Canada's Next Top Model, but it kind of didn't compare. Why? Well, first of all the host sucked.
As much as I may not be a big Tyra fan, she brings that crazy, tacky, wonderful psycho-babble appeal to the show. She makes me laugh. She says stupid things like "I love y'all" and makes the girls cry about how difficult it is to be beautiful.
Tricia Helfer. She did not compare. She was boring and had no character.
And, I stopped watching the show!!! (Okay, life was also insanely busy, but whatever).
Then yesterday it was announced that Mr. Jay (see picture above) is the new host of the show. I'M NOT KIDDING!!!
Not only is he my current celebrity crush, he's also just really really cool. Like, he has attitude and will totally rock as the judge of the show.
Actually, I think my hairstylist would totally be good on the show too, but that's beside the point.
I LOVE Mr. Jay.
Love him!
And, now he's hosting Canada's Next Top Model.
Yesterday I got several e-mails about this. Oh, and a BFAW posted about it on her blog - just for me!!!
So, I started to read a little more about it.
Turns out that, sadly, I am not eligible to be on the show.
Okay - so yeah, I'm not exactly model material. I'm about 10 inches too short (I'm 5'2 - though heels make me taller), I'm really much too chubby, and here's the worst part - I'M TOO OLD!! I know. Scary.
So, I will have to be content to sit at home and watch the show. And maybe write a few fan letters to the one and only Mr. Jay.
Is anyone out there on my bandwagon - or is it just me???

I love Halloween, and as these pictures seem to attest to, so does my adorable son!
For me, even though I work full time, Halloween is one of those days that is kind of sacred (ironic since it's a pagan holiday!).
Last year, when I went back to work, I decided that Halloween was my thing with Matt. In fact, the first vacation day I took from this job was to go trick-or-treating with my son.
We go to this annual event called Tots on Parade and all the kids dress in costume and walk along the street getting candy from all of the stores. It's cool because it's set up for toddlers and babies. Big kids (I'd guess age 5 and up) are all in school, so it's all little children. And, it's adorable.
We have always stuck around and gone to my mom's house after for lunch, hung out in the afternoon and then gone trick or treating in the neighbourhood in the evening.
This year was no different.
We started off our day extra early because we had to drop Mike off at work. And then Matt and I went to
park and grab a coffee where we met my mom and sister and niece


This is elephant Matty stopping to smell the flowers











My niece Paige came dressed as a sweet pea. It was adorable.

Trick or Treat!!!

More pics to come ... but for starters check out my brother-in-law in the Star Trek uniform!

Funny Funny Toddler

This weekend was far better than last.
This is in part because we had far fewer temper tantrums. Maybe he got more sleep. Maybe I did something differently. Maybe he ate more. Who knows. I'm not complaining.
And because of the good attitude we had a lot of funnies this weekend.
First - and this is more cool than funny - we discovered that Matthew knows his right and his left. I'm not claiming to have a baby genius or anything. But, this is pretty darn cool. Like, I will stand next to him and say "is mommy on your right or your left." And he always gives me the correct answer.
How did we discover it? Well, we were driving and he said "look, McDonald's." so I said "where?" and he said "on the right." Which was right. And, so I obsessively tested this all weekend.
The thing is, I've always had problems with my right and left. I guess it's a spatial thing. I don't remember when I mastered it, but I really think I was about 9.
So, pretty cool.
Some other funny stuff?
There was just too much. Like he kept looking at me and laughing. It was pretty funny. Or, he's now into saying opposites.
Like he'll say "look at my green shirt" if his shirt is orange.
Funny!
But my favourite was last night. We had the radio on and the Scissor Sisters song came on. Love the song. And, Mike turned it up. And Matty hopped off the couch and started to dance. Like a full out completely adorable dance. And he was dressed only in a diaper.
And then he shouted
"Come on Mommy Daddy. Shake your booty!!!"
Where does he learn this stuff????